Rail anchor



Feb. 14, 1928. 1,659,173

A. L. sTANFcRD RAIL ANCHOR Filed Nov. 17. 192e @y M1474 c ,5

i displacement.

Patented Feb. `14, 192s.

Airrnon L. STANFORD, or Liann'rvvinrn, rumors.

`nain ANoHon.

l Application filed November l am the Arthur L. Stanford to whom` Letters Patent of the United States were issued as follows: viz: No'. 1,196,488," dated August 29, 19,16; No. 1,257,602, dated May No. 1,347,301,'dated July 20, 1920, and No. 1,406,295, dated February 14, 1922. In the railanchor ot' each of the abovepatents the body portion is substantially identical with the body portion of the rail anchor oit my present application. `fill of said cited patents comprise a? holding jaw which titsfsnugly upon" and frictlonally engages the rail'tlange, with `a depending footwhich driven against the tie*A by 'rail' creeping r and gives to the anchor a tendency to tilt or cant longitudinally of the rail. Also,l all ot' the patents above cited are provided'witl'i a rigid, integral, Arelatively heavy crossbar provided withl means't'or attaching tol-'the tar edge ola rail, whereby the body ot anchor retained in service position upon the rail when the foot of the anchor is notipressing against the tie.` The anchor ofniy present application omits the integral cross bar above mentioned.

llhave'now discovered that a separately formed, relatively light, and, therefore, inexpensive wire spring meets vtherecpureinent ot holding the anchor against transverse My objects are to reduce the weight and manufacturing cost of the anchor; to sunplii'y the same; `to make possible quick application to the rail; to produce anganchor which can be readily removed and lreapplied; valso to'pi'oduce an anchor the body ot which is particularly adaptedto beni'ade anialleable iron casting, 'which'vis known to be more' resistant tooxidation thairlspring steel, and otherwise bet-ter adapted for: use as a rail anchor.

Further objects will appear troniv a detailed description of Vthe inventioirin` conjunction with the accompanying drawings whereini Figure 1 isa front eievation of the anchor,y partly in section showing it in gripping relation with the rail;

Fig. El a similar View `showing the anchor slightly canted andin position to be driven in place upon the rail; y Fig. 3 is an inside elevation ot theanchor looking inwardly toward the opening between the'jaws; and

` Fig. Ll@ is a perspective view of a modified form o spring bar adapted for use in place 17, 1926. Serial No. 148,821.

other views. f i

The anchor as a whole comprises a jaw rmember whichfcomprises an upper jawwll and alower jaw 12 ofthe customary coniigu'ration. The jaw member 10 `isviidentical in F igs. f1, 2 and 3 of the drawings and lits therail flange without distortionot the anchor jaw or the rail flange.` The jaw inember terminates in a depending foot 13 which, as shown in Fig. 3, is slightly offset to ai?- oi the roundspring bar illustrated in the tord* a bearing surface against the tie for the` purpose oil slightly `canting or tipping the jaw' member longitudinally of thera'il in suoli a way as to exert a gripping or binding action on the upper andflowersur- 'faces of the railbase as is .shown `in the anchors of all of `my priorv patents above referred to. The rail Vengaging jaw portions 11 and 12 of the anchorfare extended Vin atorefand att direction sufficiently to ernbrace the requiredle'ngth vofthe rail,` but in order to reduce thexamount of metal `required, without/sacrifice of the necessary strength, the rear surface o'tf the anchor, behind the tace thereohis cut away at points above andbelow the gripping jaws, with the exception of upperand lower vertical rein'torcingribs 14j and 15, respectively. The jaws are oppositely vpositioned above 'and below the rail flange to firmly and frictionally engage the same and present plain bearing surfaces for contact with the upper/and lower surfaces of therail flange. Q I

The `lower jaw'at a point inside ot' the ribil is thickened vand v-extended to` at- :tord a short inwardly extending lug 16, which is bored or coredto receivean obliquely disposed spring bar which maybe inthe forni of a round rod 1T, or a iatbar 17, of sufficient length, when the anchor is applied toitherral, to extendbeueath the base of the rail and may project beyond the `farther edge thereof, as indicated `in Fig. 1. 'This bar is givena driving lit withinthe socket bore, so that in eli'ect lthe structure presents.. the Vcharacter `of aone piece van- The normal VObliquity ott-he spring bar is such as to bring its free end above the plane o't the rail engagingfacexotithe lower jaw, as shown in dottedilines in Fig. 1. Theservice positioirs shown in full lines also in Fig. 11. *My wire spring'performs no 4func- -tion whatever when the `foot ot the body` ofthe anchor is `in service pressure against the tie. It is only useful when, because` of rail contraction, reverse creeping ot' rail, or other cause, the anchor has receded somewhat from the rail. The wire spring then lunctions to prevent transverse displacement or the anchor due to rail vibration. The spring gives the anchor, when the saine is out of service contact with the tie, a slight transverse tilting or canting tendency. This supplements the normal rictional contact of the anchor with the rail flange, which is se` i cured when the anchor is wedged upon the 'lll same in its application thereto. I have fully demonstrated by'testsv that this combined frictional hold upon the rail is sullicient to prevent transverse `displacement of thean chor by rail vibration when the loot of the same is out of service pressure against the tie. Y

In order to further increase the gripping etlect it' desired, the gripping tace ol one ot' the jaws, preferably the lower jaw, may be provided with a shallow depression` or pocket 19 into which a gritty or frictional substance, such as eniery or the like, may be poured or housed, so that the gripping edect will be increased and the spring action supplemented in cases where anextreme degree of grippingeffcct is required, as, for instance, in tunnels or curves where an accumnlation of grease on the rail renders an additional gripping action desirable.

By providing a spring bar ot' adequate length to aiord engagement with a rail base or' maximum width, the same anchor can be used with rails of lesser width, but conigured to tit the jaws, so that within the range indicated the anchor possesses the characteristics of a universal anchor.`

Although the invention has been described with particular reference to detail, it is not the intention, unless otherwise indicated in the claims, to limit the invention to the mechanism shown, since modification thereof may be employed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim: o

l. In a rail anchor, the combination ol' a jaw member providing upper and lower rail grip Ding jaws, one oi the jaws being providec with a recess, an abrasive material housed within said recess, an inwardly extending spring bar socketed below the lower jaw and configured to normally extend above the plane of the engaged rail and adapted to be flexed downwardly by contact with the base of the rail when the anchor is positioned, substantially as described,

2. In a rail anchor, `the combination or a jaw member comprising upper and lower jaws adapted to embrace the edge of a rail, the lower jaw being provided on its acting face with a recess, a friction material housed within said recess and adapted to increase the frictional engagement of the jaw member with the rail,substantially as described.

3. In a rail anchor, the combination oil a rigid nnyielding jaw member provided with an inwardly tapered jaw opening contigured to snugly wedge upon and lrictionally en gage one liange ot the rail, and a relatively flexible transversely extending bar soelreted within the jaw mcn'iber and extending obliquely upwardly to bring its iree end above the plane ot the base of the jaw opening and having a smooth upper contact surface formed to bring its `tree endinto oblique bearing contact with the base ot the rail when the bar is flexed downwardly by contact with the `rail base and the tapered jaw member is 'frictionally wedged upon the rail. flange, the bar being adapted to have cngagementkonly with` the under surface of the rail base, substantially as described.

a. In a rail anchor, the combination of a rigid unyielding jaw member provided with an inwardly tapered jaw opening contigurcd to snugly wedge upon and irictionally engage one flange ol' a rail, and a relatively.' flexible transversely extending bar sockcted within the jaw member and extending obliquely upwardly to bring its tree end above the plane o'l the base ot' the jaw opcning and having a smooth upper contact surface formed to bring its lree end into oblique bearing contact with the base of the rail `when the bar is flexed downwardly by contact with the rail base and the tapered jaw member is frictionally wedged upon the rail flange, the bar being ol such length that when the anchor is positioned the end ci the bar will project beyond the edge of' the opposite rail flange, the bar being adapted to have engagement only with the under suri'ace ot the rail base, substantially as described. 5. In a rail anchor, the combination of a Jaw member comprising upper and lower gripping jaws separated from one another to afford an inwardly tapering jaw opening configured to snugly wedge upon and frictionally engage one edge ol a rail, a di pending forwardly projecting loot carried 'by the jaw member and adapted lo bear against a tie, the jaw member having a socket portion located at a point below the plane of the lower jaw, said socket portion being provided with an obliqucly disposed socket bore, and a spring bar having its inner end soclretcd within said bore and obliquely extending therefrom sufficiently to bring its free end above the plane of the base of the engaged rail and adapted to be downwardly flexed by engagement with said rail when the anchor is positioned, substantially as described.

G. In a 1ail anchor, the combination of a jaw member comprising upper and lower gripping jaws separated from one another to afford an inwardly tapering jaw opening Configured to snugly Wedge upon and frictonally engage one edge of a rail, a depending forwardly projecting foot Carried by the jaw member and adapted to b'ear against a tie, a` lug inwardly extending` from the jaw Inen'lber at a point below the plane of the lower jaw, Said lug being provided with' an oblqnely disposed socket bore, and a above the rail and vplane of elle base of the engaged adapted to be downwardly flexed by engagement with said rail when the :m-`

ellor is po stoned. substantially as described.

ARTHUR L. STANFORD. 

